Pittsburgh Steelers HC Mike Tomlin only has himself to blame for what’s coming, including trade speculation. After walking off the podium in the face of a question about his future a year ago, things won’t get any easier following another one-and-done postseason performance with an ostensibly competent quarterback.
This year, the Mike Tomlin Dialectic is going to future a healthy dose of “should the Steelers trade him”. While Adam Schefter suggested that Tomlin has a no-trade clause in his most recent contract extension, that may be semantic.
As Mike Florio explains it, all coach contracts effectively have a no-trade clause. A team cannot simply trade a coach; it negotiates with another team and then that negotiating them then has the right to negotiate with the coach. But the coach, in this case Tomlin, can refuse a trade request.
Still, Florio raised the notion that perhaps the Steelers want teams to come calling. Recently, there was a leak through Gerry Dulac reporting they are “not planning” to move on from Tomlin, via trade or otherwise. As Florio points out, that’s pretty mild language for someone you signed to an extension last year after 17 years.
“If the report were that the Steelers definitely will not make a coaching change, it would look and feel different”, Florio argued. “The words ‘not planning’ [to trade or release Mike Tomlin] could be a subtle invitation to the Jets, Bears, Saints, Jaguars, Raiders, and possibly the Cowboys, whose contract with Mike McCarthy expires in two days”.
Do I think this is true? No, not in the slightest, quite frankly, and Florio has a history of reading too much into details. Sometimes he is right to, but often he is chasing a wild goose. If the Steelers are “not planning” to move on from Tomlin, they’re not going to. Unless it’s Tomlin who initiates the moving on, in one form or fashion.
For those Steelers fans looking for seismic change this offseason, they are likely to see only disappointment. Mike Tomlin, at least for now, still appears to have a lifetime appointment as long as he does just enough. He has become the master of doing just enough lately, perhaps too well.
Coach trades are, of course, exceedingly rare, and discussion about theoretical ones are widely disproportionate. Of course, it’s an interesting thing to theorize about, which is why we do it. The Steelers trading for Mike Tomlin would reshape the landscape of the NFL in a significant way.
That, however, doesn’t make it any more likely to happen. And while I can’t completely dismiss the remote possibility that the Steelers would listen to a blockbuster offer for Tomlin, it feels impossible. Even if, apparently, at least one team did put out a feeler about it, just in case.
